Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya to visit Philippines next week

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) and Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya shake hands during a working lunch at a hotel in Tokyo on January 7, 2025. (Photo by Issei Kato / POOL / AFP)

Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya will visit the Philippines from January 14 to 15 to strengthen their strategic partnership amidst an “increasingly complex security environment,” Manila’s Department of Foreign Affairs said Friday.

The Philippines and Japan are longtime allies of the United States, which has been strengthening its alliances from Canberra to Tokyo to counter China’s growing military might and influence in the region.

Iwaya will hold a bilateral meeting with his Filipino counterpart Enrique Manalo “to discuss political, defense, security, economic and development cooperation, as well as other areas of mutual concern,” the foreign affairs department said in a statement.

“Amidst an increasingly complex security environment, they are expected to reaffirm the mutual commitment to further enhancing the ‘Strengthened Strategic Partnership’ between the two countries and to seize new opportunities for cooperation,” it added.

In July 2024, the two countries signed a Reciprocal Access Agreement, a key defense pact that allows them to deploy troops on each other’s soil.

Japan has been building the newest and largest ships of the Philippine Coast Guard, a key element of Manila’s efforts to assert its sovereignty in the South China Sea.

Last month, Tokyo granted Manila 1.6 billion yen ($10.6 million) aimed at beefing up its naval capabilities through their Official Security Assistance program launched in 2023.